


The Dragon and the Demon

by XxShadowWolf13xX



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Demons, Dragons, F/M, Fairy Tail Dragon Slayers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-04-23 15:14:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4881634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxShadowWolf13xX/pseuds/XxShadowWolf13xX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rune didn't want to be here. Rune didn't want to be anywhere really. And yet, here she is; forced into a guild full of rowdy mages by its elderly guildmaster who couldn't leave well enough alone. To make things worse, he seems to think that it's a FANTASTIC idea to pawn her off on his obnoxious jerk of a grandson. Follow this unfortunate mage as she tries to put the past where it belongs and learn to live and trust again. It won't be easy, but maybe the blond jerk can actually help her? Maybe she could even help him in the process?<br/> (There will probably be lemons later on as the relationship progresses. When Rune is older, of course. I wouldn't have Laxus "doing the nasty" with a pre-pubescent 14 year old. Even if he's only 17 at the moment, it'd still be wrong.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The New Guildmate

**Author's Note:**

> Authors note: Hey guys! This is my first actual story ever. So, if the first few chapters have some flaws, let me know, but be nice about it. I wasn’t even going to post this until I got several chapters done, but I figured it’d be best to get some feedback to help with the process. There isn’t going to be a set schedule for this story since I don’t know how much time I will be able to devote. I get two days off from work a week, but I’m usually pretty burned out by then. Reviews would motivate me to work more and faster though, so if you see some potential in this story, let me know. Thanks a bunch for reading! Also, this was posted on Fanfic.net, but I like this place better. So, I decided to post it here too.

“I’m back everyone!” Makarov, an extremely small old man, exclaimed as he walked through the large front doors of the guild.

“Welcome back, Master.” Erza, a thirteen year old, armor clad mage with scarlet hair pulled back into a large braid, greeted. “How was the meeting? Why are you nearly a week late getting back? We were about to send someone to look for you.”

“Geeze you ask a lot of questions you armored freak!” Mirajane, a gothic-looking girl of about the same age with white hair pulled back into a ponytail by a black ribbon, shouted from her table a few feet away.

“Mira-nii! Do you have to start something already! It’s only eight o’clock!” Lisanna, Mira’s younger sister whined.

“What did you say you midriff showing freak!” Erza shouted and charged at the other girl before Makarov had the chance to answer any of her questions.

And the fight was on. Punches, kicks, magic, and insults were flying between the two girls. Makarov simply sighed and headed to the bar where he knew his drinking buddies Macao and Wabaka would be.

“So what _did_ take you so long?” Macao, a thirty-six year old man with dark blue hair, asked.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Makarov exclaimed and turned around in his seat to face the doors he just entered.

There a small, somewhat emaciated girl about the age of fourteen with bandages covering almost every inch of her sickly-pale skin aside from her face stood, glaring at the floor. She had long, black hair that reached her midsection with a long, choppy fringe that covered the entire left side of her face and left ear all the way down to her chin. Her uneven bangs hung in one visible eye slightly with one exceptionally long one framing the right side of her face. Her eye was a soul-piercing silver color so pale in hue that it was almost white and was surrounded by thick black lines with two large eyelashes sticking out of the outer corner. She had one metal stud on the right side of her nose, one stud on the lobe of the visible ear, and two steel rings on the shell of her ear. Over her bandages, she wore punk styled clothes consisting of a black and white striped tank top with a glaring skull and cross bones motif on the chest area, black cargo pants tucked into combat boots that came up to her mid calf, a black choker with a buckle on the side, a black and white checkered wristband on her right wrist, a spiked wristband on her left wrist, two belts secured on opposite sides of each other and left hang on the other, chain suspenders that were also allowed to hang, and black nail polish that covered her claw-like fingernails.

 “What’s with the scary looking chick, gramps?” Laxus, Makarov’s seventeen year old grandson asked as he took a sip of beer from his tankard.

“She’s our newest guild member.” Makarov replied before calling out enthusiastically to the girl. “What are you waiting for, Rune?! Come on over here so I can introduce you!”

“I’d rather not……” She mumbled to herself, but obediently did as she was told while still glaring at the ground.

“This is Rune Greywolf; she will be joining the guild.” The old man introduced the young girl. “She’s actually the reason I was late. I found her unconscious and badly injured in the forest on the outskirts of Clover Town when I went for a walk. I took her to the hospital and waited for her to recover enough that she could come here.”

“Heh. Pathetic.” Laxus sneered. “She looks like she’ll drop dead if ya poke her too hard. I don’t even think she could handle being a mage.”

This caused the girl to redirect her glare from the floor to him. It was then that he got a full view of the icy-cold hatred that was present in her eyes, and the shards of blood-red coloring that had suddenly appeared within the pale silver iris. It sent a frightful chill down his spine.

“If looks could kill!” He thought.

“She has a strong magic-aura, so I have reason to believe she was quite the powerful mage at one point." Makarov assured. "As for her physical state, apparently she escaped from a rather bad situation that resulted in her appearance at the moment. All she needs is some time to recover and to put on some weight and she’ll be fine.”

“Whatever, she still looks pretty fuck’n weak to me." The teen scoffed. "Besides, if she was strong, she wouldn’t have passed out in the first place.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!" Rune snapped with a hint of what sounded almost like a feral snarl. "YOU DON’T KNOW ME, YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME, AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!!!!! YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN DECIDING WHO’S WEAK AND WHO’S NOT!!!!”

“Whoa! Calm down, kid!” Wabaka, a thirty-six year old man with brown, pompadour-styled hair, exclaimed with his hands out in front of himself defensively.

Her head snapped toward the man.“DON’T EVER CALL ME KID!!! I’VE SEEN AND DONE THINGS THAT WOULD BRING A GROWN MAN TO TEARS!!!! I! AM! NO! KID!!!”  

“Okay! Okay! We won’t call you a kid! Just calm down!” Macao exclaimed with his hands in the same defensive position as Wabaka’s.

“Calm down? CALM DOWN!?! I was CALM until that JACKASS over there opened his mouth!” Rune snapped and whipped her head toward the man who was responsible for her being here in the first place. “This is why I didn’t want to come here in the first place! I hate people! I told you that! They're all insufferable!”

Suddenly Rune’s demeanor went from livid to very sad, catching everyone by surprise more than her sudden outburst of anger. “You should’ve just left me there to die.... It would’ve been better that way...” Rune said sadly while returning her gaze to the floor.

Makarov stood up in his chair and took Rune’s chin in his fist, forcing her to look him in the eye. “Rune... I know you’ve been through a lot, and though I don’t know what that may be, I do know that it’s no reason to think that way...”

“You _don’t_ know that...” Rune whispered and turned her head away.

Makarov sighed in defeat, hoping the girl would come around eventually and talk about whatever is wrong with her. “Well, let me introduce you to the rest of the guild and then I’ll have someone escort you to Fairy Hills. Okay?”

Rune nodded and turned to face the rest of the people in the guild.

“ALRIGHT YOU BRATS, LISTEN UP!!!” Makarov shouted, effectively bringing all fights and conversations to a halt. “This is Rune; she is our newest guild member. I want you to make her feel at home here, but don’t overdo it. Is that clear?!”

Everyone in the guild nodded to show that they understood what he wanted from them.

“Good! Now, has anyone seen Erza?” Makarov asked, looking around the guildhall for the scarlet haired girl.

“She went to go find Natsu and Gray.” Levy, an eleven year old girl with striking blue hair, answered.

“Okay. Has anyone seen Mirajane?” He began to look for the other girl.

“She went chasing after Erza, screaming at her to finish their fight.” Elfman, Mirajane’s younger brother, told him.

Makarov sighed in frustration. “What about you, Levy?”

“I-I would, but Jet, Droy and I are leaving for a mission. If we don’t go now, we’ll miss the only train headed to the town we need to get to...” Levy said sadly.

“Why don’t we have more girls in this guild!?” Makarov grumbled.

“S-sorry, Master.” Levy apologized.

“It’s alright, child." The old man assured.. "There’s nothing that can be done for it. Go on to your mission, and you three had better be careful.”

“We will, Master!” Levy said with a warm smile as she skipped off to meet her team-mates.

“Alright then..." The old man began looking for someone else to escort her. "Laxus! Escort Rune to Fairy Hills for me.”

“Why do I have to, Gramps!?” Laxus complained.

“You wanted to be Guild Master when I retired, right?" Makarov questioned. "Well, this is part of the job, so you better get used to it.”

“If it’s part of being the Guild Master, then why aren’t you doing it?!” Laxus retorted.

“Because of another part of being a Guild Master. Paperwork.” Makarov stated.

“But, she’s crazy! Did you not see what just happened?!” Laxus shouted.

“Laxus!” The old man chided.

“No. It’s fine; I don’t need his help, or anyone else’s. I’ll find it myself.” Rune said before quickly turning towards the door and leaving.

“Go apologize right now and take her to Fairy Hills like I told you to!!!” Makarov ordered.

“I have nothing to apologize for; you know it’s true. Besides, it’s not my fault you brought her here, so she’s not my responsibility.” Laxus countered.“Why did you bring her here anyway?”

“Because I couldn’t leave her there to die and I couldn’t just let her loose in the world in the physical and emotional condition she’s in." Makarov explained. "I don’t know what on Earthland that child could have gone through to make her that way, but something has severely damaged her her... I was hoping that bringing her here would help. But you’re just making it worse! You’ve always had a hard time with knowing when to shut up and keep things to yourself! Your behavior had gotten entirely out of hand lately, and that needs to change! If you EVER want to be Guild Master, then you had better shape up and start giving a damn about someone other than yourself!"

The teen was rendered speechless.

"Honestly; what happened to you? You used to be such a sweet, caring boy..." Makarov asked. "What happened to _that_ Laxus?”

“Okay! Okay! I’ll go! I’ll go! Just don’t bring up the “back when you little” lecture again!” And with that, he ran out the door to catch up with the girl.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It didn’t take long for Laxus to catch up with the girl, which she was not happy about.

“What do you want?” Rune said with such venom in her voice it made the older teen flinch slightly.

“I came to take you to Fairy Hills like Gramps told me to.” Laxus said matter of factly.

“I said I didn’t need your help! I can find it myself!” Rune growled.

“You can, can you?" Laxus said in a smug tone. "Then explain why you are heading in the completely opposite direction.” 

“BECAUSE I JUST GOT HERE, YOU JERK!!!!!” She screamed and ran in the direction she had been heading.

“What are you doing!? I told you that was the wrong way!” The boy called after her.

“I said I’d find it myself and that’s exactly what I intend to do! I’m going to look as if you never showed up in the first place!” She shouted over her shoulder.

“Oh no you don’t!” Laxus shouted and took off after her.

For a girl in as frail of a condition as she was, Rune was surprisingly fast and nimble. You would have thought she was a parkour champion or something because she was jumping off walls to avoid people, jumping over decorative walls and flower boxes without trouble, using flagpoles hanging off the sides of buildings to propel herself up onto the balconies of the buildings that lined the streets, jumping from balcony to balcony without fear of missing despite the large gap between some of them. Eventually, Rune ran out of balconies to jump to as she reached the town square, but that didn’t stop her as Laxus had hoped it would. Without even a thought about it, she jumped from the last balcony and did a perfect tuck and roll to avoid injury. The movement was so fluid she practically hit the ground running.

She bolted into an alley that Laxus knew was blocked off by a fence, and he smirked. “Got ya now, twerp!”

His hopes were soon dashed when she jumped over it, catching the top with her hands and tucking in her legs so she could make it over without catching her clothing and make a smooth landing. Laxus was strong and fast, but he was not a jumper; his bulky build made sure of that. So, he had no choice but to climb over it, which cost him some distance. He ran faster than ever to catch up. There was only a strait path through the alley that she could follow, so it wasn’t like he had to worry about her weaving around though, which made things at least somewhat easier for him. Then, just as she made it to the other side of the alley, she froze. There was a drop off that lead to the town’s channel system, and this was one of the few areas where three sides were surrounded by water. The distance to the other side in front of her was one she could easily make, and yet, she didn’t jump. Laxus wasn’t expecting the sudden stop, and was unable to stop in time. He slammed into her back and sent them both over the edge. Rune let out a scream of pure terror as she hit the water and promptly started drowning. Laxus grabbed her and dragged her out, growling in anger the entire time out of anger.

“Thanks, ya dumb bitch! Now I’m totally soaked! You’re just lucky I didn’t have my sound pod with me, or you’d be dead!” Laxus shouted as he dropped her on the concrete.

Rune didn’t seem to even hear his harsh words, she was too busy shaking as she pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her back against the wall, eyes wide in terror.

Laxus looked at her curiously. The water wasn’t warm, but it sure wasn’t cold enough to cause someone to shake like that.

“Oi! You even listening to me!?” Laxus shouted, snapping Rune out of her trance.

The girl quickly scrambled to her feet and tried to take off again, but Laxus grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back so hard she landed on her bottom on the hard concrete. Laxus wasted no time in picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatos.

She naturally began struggling right away. “LET GO OF ME!!! PUT ME DOWN!!!!”

“You were the one who decided to be difficult.” He said flatly. “Now calm down before you _really_ piss me off.”

Rune did stop screaming and struggling, but only to allow her hand to be enveloped in jet black magic energy; this energy then began to form long, sharp claws. She swiftly buried the claws into the older mage’s back before he could notice what she was doing, causing him to hiss in pain.

“What the hell was that for!?” He yelled.

“I told you to put me down! Now, do it or I’ll get you again!” She yelled back.

“Oh no you don’t!” He placed the palm of his free hand on her back and sent a jolt of electricity up her spine. Surprisingly, she didn’t shriek in pain as one would expect someone who had just been electrocuted to. She did, however, become rigid before becoming limp and motionless, as was to be expected.

“I…….c-can’t……..move…….” She struggled to say.

“That’s the point. You could have just held still and let me take you to Fairy Hills, but no; that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?” he said sarcastically.

Rune fell silent in defeat. She couldn’t move, hell, she could barely speak! There was nothing she could do at this point. But, she vowed to get back at the lightning mage one day before passing out. Laxus snorted in annoyance and started off toward Fairy Hills. Of course, he got some weird looks from the people he passed; carrying around an unconscious girl will get that reaction, you know. He didn’t care though; it was none of their business. Thankfully, Rune seemed to have given up the fight, because she hadn’t so much as complained yet even though they had been walking long enough to be nearly half way there.

It was then that it hit him. “Shit! The water!”

Rune was soaked to the bone when he shocked her, which made the charge more powerful than he had meant it to be. Not to mention that she was in a weakened state as it were. I mean, the girl had so little meat on her bones that Laxus had already had to readjust her on his shoulder several times because her bones were digging into his shoulder uncomfortably. He could still feel her pulse and her breathing, so she was at least alive, but he knew he was really in for it when he reached their destination.


	2. Forced Together

~two weeks later~

“Whatever happened to the new girl?” Macao asked as he sipped his beer.

“Hilda has refused to let her leave the dorms in the state she was in.” Makarov explained. “My idiot grandson roughing the poor child up didn’t help matters ether.”

Wabaka sighed. “Does that boy have a gentle bone in his body?”

“If he does, it’s overpowered by his thick skull.” Makarov spat.

The three men laughed and continued their conversation, oblivious to the fact that the girl they had been talking about had just walked in and hailed down one of the waitresses to order some food. She didn’t feel all that hungry, but she knew she had to try to force herself to eat in order to gain back her strength. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, so after placing her order, she sat at an empty table, laid her head face-down on her folded arms, and hoped no one would bother her. No such luck though. Makarov had noticed her and walked over to the corner where she sat.

He hopped up on the counter to her left and attempted to talk to her. “So…..what are you planning to do today? Take a job?”

She didn’t speak a single word; she just nodded with her head still down, hoping he would leave.

“Well, before you go, you need to have the guild mark placed on you. Where would you like it?” Makarov continued.

Again, she said nothing and didn’t raise her head. She simply un-tucked her right arm, pointed to her upper left, and re-tucked it.

“On that tattoo you have? Kind of an odd place, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.” The old man said with a shrug. “What color would you like?”

 _“Damn, I guess I have to talk now.”_ She thought and turned her head slightly in his direction, “I’d like it to match my skin tone, or something close to it. Is that possible?”

“Hmm... Never tried it. I’m sure we could though.” he replied.

Rune nodded and returned her head to its original position.

Makarov sighed at the child’s unwillingness to talk. “You seem upset today, Rune. Do you want to talk about it?”

Rune shook her head.

“Is it about your past?” he asked in a compassionate tone.

Rune nodded in response.

“Alright. You’ll talk about it when you’re ready, I suppose.” he said before taking a swig of beer from the tankard the waitress had just given him. “I’ll be over with Macao and Wabaka; come get me when you’re done eating.”

He walked to the table, on the other side of the guild, where Macao, Wabaka, and now Laxus were, and sat down with a sigh. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do with that stubborn girl...” he said as he looked over at Rune who was now silently picking at her food.

The others looked over as well. “Why?” Macao asked. “What’s wrong with her?”

“That’s the problem!” Makarov exclaimed. “I don’t know; she won’t tell me anything! She’s always angry and depressed, and she won’t tell me what’s wrong. All she says that it’s about her past and she doesn’t want to talk about it. I want to help her, but I can’t until I know what happened...”

“Eh, leave the twerp alone. If she doesn’t wanna talk, then that’s her problem.” Laxus said, taking a drink from his tankard.

“Oh Laxus, you still have so much to learn. It’s often the silent sufferers that need help the most.” Makarov sighed, and the other two men at the table nodded in agreement.

“Whatever.” is all the spiky-haired blonde scoffed.

“Hmm... I think I have an idea.” Makarov finally said after a few minutes.

All three men at the table looked at him, waiting for their Guild Master to reply.

“Laxus, you will be going with Rune on her missions for a while.” Makarov ordered.

“And why the hell would I do that?” the young man questioned.

“Because it will be good for the both of you. Besides, she's in no condition to be traveling alone.” his grandfather replied nonchalantly.

“Hell no! I’m not following some little brat all over Fiore!” Laxus bellowed.“Besides, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but we HATE each other!”

Laxus attempted to get up from the table and leave, but Makarov made one of his hands gigantic and held him down by his shoulders.

Makarov looked his grandson dead in the eye and said, “You may be my grandson, but that doesn’t give you special treatment. When your Guild Master gives you a direct order, you follow it.”

“Fine! I’ll go! But, I’m only done the second she goes psycho bitch again.” Laxus glared at his grandfather, only agreeing to this to avoid another lecture. God, he hated those.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A short time later, Rune walked up and tapped on Makarov’s shoulder.

“You done?” Makarov asked.

“Yes.” the girl replied.

“Very well. Follow me to my office and we’ll get your mark in place, then go pick a job and bring it to me so I can approve it.” the tiny man said as he started walking towards a door at the back of the guild with the raven-haired mage following.

Once they got to the rather large office, Makarov had Rune sit in a chair in front of his desk while he retrieved the magic stamp tool from a nearby cabinet. He grabbed the tool and hopped up on the chair next to her in order to reach the area in which she had requested the mark to be placed. Rune could feel the magic emanating from the tool as it was pressed on her arm. It tingled and she had to fight to resist a shiver that had begun to make its way down her spine as a result of it.

“Okay! It’s done!” Makarov exclaimed as he took the magic stamp tool off of her arm and set it on his desk. “What do you think? Do you like it?”

“Sure.” she said replied, examining her new guild mark. “I’m going to go pick a job.”

“Okay, I’ll be back over at the table with the others. Bring the paper over to me when you’ve picked one.” he said over his shoulder as he hopped down from the chair and began walking out of his office.

Rune walked to the job board and Makarov went back to the table he had been at a few minutes before. When he got to the table, Makarov was surprised to see that his grandson was still there. He had expected him to leave in a vain attempt to get out of going on the mission.

“Where’s the twerp at?” the young man asked with irritation evident in his voice.

“She’s picking a job.” Makarov stated as he sat down.

“Wait, she agreed to this without arguing even a little?” Laxus questioned.

The old man hesitated. “Umm...”

“You didn’t tell her, did you?” Laxus demanded, even more irritated than before.

“Well, what do you want me to do?! The two of you didn’t exactly get off on the right foot the other day! I’m waiting until I send the confirmation message, so there is no way either of you can get out of it.” Makarov replied.

“Yeah, ‘cause that will help the situation.” Laxus said sarcastically.

A few minutes later, Rune walked over and handed Makarov the flyer that had the job she wanted printed on it.

“Taking down a monster at Mt. Criostail, huh? You sure that’s a good idea? After all, you haven’t healed fully yet.” Makarov questioned.

“I’ve fought with worse. I’ll be fine.” Rune replied flatly.

“Well, if you’re sure you’ll be okay, I guess I can’t stop you.” he said as he wrote down what job she took and sent a confirmation letter to the client. “Oh, by the way, I’ve assigned Laxus to go on this mission with you, as well as a few others after that.”

“WHAT!?!?! OH HELL NO!!!” she screamed. "I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH THAT LIGHTNING-BASTARD!!!”

“Lightning-Bastard?” the four men at the table repeated in unison.

“How did you know my grandson uses Lightning Magic?” Makarov questioned.

“That son of a bitch shocked me yesterday because I was ‘being difficult’!” Rune snapped.

“Laxus! What the hell is wrong with you, boy!? I knew you were thick headed enough to knock the girl out, but this!?” Makarov scolded.

“Well, she was!” Laxus defended.

“That’s no excuse! Apologize!” Makarov bellowed as he stood up on his seat and pointed at his grandson.

“Hell no! She deserved it!” Laxus shouted.

“You’ll do as I- Ack!” Makarov was cut off by a sharp pain in his chest.

All at the table stared wide-eyed at their master, unsure as to what they should do. This happens sometimes; sometimes it’s serious, and other times it’ll stop after a few seconds with no action other than having him rest required. Luckily, this was one of those times when it wasn’t that serious.

“Phew... I need to calm down.” he stated after a few seconds of clutching his chest. “No more arguing. The mission has been confirmed already, so there’s now getting out of it. Now, shoo before the two of you become the death of me.”

“Fine.” the two young mages growled in unison as they walked out of the guild.

“Well, that went better than expected.” Makarov said.

“You expected it to be worse!?” Macao questioned.

“If you knew it was going to be bad, why did you put them together?” Wakaba asked.

“I think it will be good for the two of them.” Makarov replied with a shrug.

“How?” his two drinking companions asked.

Makarov took a sip of his beer and replied. “She needs to bring down the walls she’s put up and he needs to stop acting the way he does. I figured, ‘why not try to kill two birds with one stone?’” he replied.

“I dunno...” they both said in a skeptical tone. “

Trust me, it’ll be fine.” Makarov said, taking another sip of beer.


	3. Chapter 3: Rough Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a subscriber! Yay! I'm so happy to have one already! I wish I could see who it is like on fanfiction.net so I can thank you by name. (Maybe I can and I just haven't figured it out yet. I'm not sure.)  
> Comments also make me happy. *wink wink*

"Why the hell are we walking?!" Rune shrieked and flailed as Laxus dragged her away from the train station by the back of her shirt.

"Because I said so!" Laxus growled and continued to struggle with the girl, which required more effort than expected.

"It'll take forever!" The girl whined. "I don't want to spend anymore time with you than I have to, Lightning Bastard!"

"Will ya quit calling me that!?" Laxus snapped.

"Fine, Sparky!" Rune said with a mischievous edge to her tone.

"What was that!?" Laxus said, even more annoyed than before as he span the girl around to glare directly at her.

Laxus was pretty good at being intimidating, but it didn't even seem to phase the girl who stood defiantly before him. "Spar-ky.)

"Why you little!" Laxus roared and lunged for the girl, but she managed to jump away.

"You seem more like thunder to me rather than lightning; so slow." Rune teased as she dodged another attack from the severely enraged teen. "Tsk, tsk. Such bad aim, Sparky."

"Shut the fuck up!" Laxus yelled and attacked again, this time with a fist wrapped in lightning.

At this point, Rune decided to make a break for the train again. She figured that she could put enough distance between herself and her pursuer that she would be able to get onto the train before he could yank her off again. He could walk if he wanted to, but there was no way she was going to. She was getting this job done by sundown if it was the last thing she did, damn it! Her hopes were quickly dashed, however, by the crackling of electricity and her muscles suddenly seizing up. The momentum she had built up during her escape attempt caused her to skid face-first across the cobblestone road. With shaking limbs, she tried to force herself back onto her feet, but she was pushed back to the ground by Laxus' foot on her back.

Laxus looked down at her smugly. "We're walking; get it?"

"Fuck you!" Rune hissed and struggled to free herself.

"You want another zap, kid?" Laxus threatened.

"Try me, Sparky!" Rune challenged as more electricity began to crackle.

Laxus was about to deliver another jolt unto the little pest of a girl, but he was suddenly hit in the face so hard with a purse that came out of nowhere that he was knocked to the ground.

"Just what do you think you're doing, you insolent welp!?" Demanded the elderly purse wielder.

"Damn it, you old bat!" Laxus spat and held his now bleeding nose. "That fucking hurt!"

The old woman hit him in face with her purse again. "Watch your language!"

"What the hell do you have in there!? Rocks!?" Laxus shouted.

The woman hit him again. "What did I just say!?"

"Knock it off!" the teen shouted as he desperately tried to shield himself. "She started it anyway!"

"I don't care who started it!" The woman yelled. "The poor girl is still recovering! Why are you with her anyway and where are you going?!"

"Gramps is making me go with her on her job in case she can't handle it" Laxus explained.

"What is that old fool thinking!?" The woman ranted. "Leaving a pretty little thing like her in your care is like letting a fox guard a hen house!"

Laxus was aghast at the woman's insinuation. "I wouldn't do anything!"

"As if I'd believe you!" The woman hissed. "You're a horny little beast!"

"She doesn't even have boobs yet!" Laxus was in disbelief that she was seriously suggesting what she was. "I ain't some pedo you know!"

"She shouldn't be going out on jobs yet in the first place!" She stated firmly. "I'm taking her back to Fairy Hills."

"No way!" Rune argued. :I'm perfectly capable of handling this!"

"I cannot let you go." The old woman said, not giving an inch.

"Too bad!" Rune spat. "The notification's already been sent!"

"You're not going!" The woman insisted.

"YES I AM!" Rune screamed.

"NO YOU ARE NOT! " The old woman shouted with just as much fervor.

"Hilda." a man's voice rang out. "Let her go on the job."

Everyone turned toward the voice to see Makarov heading their way.

"I trust he won't do anything along the lines of of what you're thinking. He may be an idiotic brute, but he's not like _that_." Makarov sort of defended his grandson.

"Even if I believed that," Hilda argued, "she's still not well enough to be going on jobs. And, your ill-behaved grandson is the worst person you could have stuck her with! At best he'll simply neglect to take proper care of her, and at worst we'll get more of this! The brat doesn't know how to care for anyone other than himself!"

"I'm sitting right here, ya know!" Laxus said, highly offended.

"I'm perfectly capable!!" Rune repeated, "I don't _need_ him to take care of me!"

Makarov glared at her, shutting her up. "That's enough out of you!"

Laxus snickered. "You're in trouble."

"You too, boy!" Makarov snapped and continued to talk to Hilda. "I know you are protective of your girls, Hilda, but I don't appreciate you saying such things about my grandson. He's better than that and you know it. Back to the point; you need to let Rune choose her own fate."

"I just don't think it's a very good idea..." Hilda grumped

"It'll be fine." The old man assured before turning back to the teens. "Now, get up and be on your way. It's a long walk from here to Mt. Criostail, so you'd best get going."

"What!?" Rune was stunned. "You're going to try and make me walk too!?" 

"Yes." Makarov said. "For reasons that are not for me to disclose, Laxus does not take transportation if it can at all be avoided."

Then, tbey heard a train whistle and pull out of the station.

"Besides, the last train to your destination just left." Makarov observed.

"That's just great!" Rune whined. "Does that mean I'll have to walk to _all_ of my jobs while Crybaby Sparky is tagging along?"

"I ain't no crybaby!" Laxus shouted.

"Are to! Poor wittle Spawky is sooo scared of a wittle choo-choo twain." Rune taunted.

"That's enough, Rune!" Makarov yelled. "His reasons are your own and you'll just have to deal with it! Now, both of you get out of here before I decide punishment is in order for the behavior you both have just displayed!."

"Y-yes, sir..." Laxus gulped and stood before pulling the younger mage to her feet by the back of her shirt. "Let's go, twerp."

"Good." Makarov said with a nod of approval. "I don't want to hear anything from anybody about either of you misbehaving. Got it?"

"Yes, sir..." :axis said reluctantly before taking the girl by the arm and led her to the town gates.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rune had been seething since the incident back at the train station, which had been a few hours ago by this point. She had been trying to hold it in, but it was too much. She'd love nothing more than to take her rage out on the one that had caused it in the first place, but she didn't want to know what kind of punishment Makarov would have in store for her if she did. So, instead, she turned to the nearest tree and kicked it as hard as she could.

"DAMN IT!" She screamed in anger as the tree cracked and fell from the force of the kick.

"Damn, kid!" Laxus jumped back in surprise from the sudden outburst. "What's your deal!?"

 _"One kick did THAT!?"_ He thought.

"Why?" Rune questioned. "Why did I have to get stuck with  _you_!? Why can't I just go alone!? I'm not weak! I'M NOT! I'm not some kid! I'm not some twerp! I'm not some pathetic weakling! I'm me! I'm a survivor! I don't need anybody! I can handle myself! I don't need  _you_!"

Laxus was slightly taken aback by how angry she was over the situation. "Look, I'm not any happier about it. Bitching and moaning isn't going to help though. Let's just get this all done and over with."

"Whatever!" Rune spat and turned away from him.

Laxus sighed and decided to drop it. "Let's camp here for the night.

Rune didn't even bother to respond to him. She just plopped down where she stood and still refused to even look at him.

"Start gathering firewood." Laxus ordered. "I'll be back."

"Where the hell are you going?" Rune demanded, breaking her silence. "I'm not doing all the work while you go gallivanting around the forest!"

"You wanna eat tonight?" Laxus snapped back. "Then shut up and get the firewood while I go catch some fish."

"Fine..." Rune grumbled and began collecting kindling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Not much was said between the two for the rest of the night. The only exception was when Laxus got after Rune for not eating enough when she knew that she needed to put on weight. After eating, they decided to turn in early so they could get started early the next morning. Just as Rune was drifting off, she swore she heard Laxus mumble a "good night" to her before turning over and drifting off himself. Today may have been a rough start to their partnership, but that one little act of kindness did make Rune feel a bit better. She mumbled her own "good night" to him before slipping into slumber.

 


	4. Chapter 4: Softie and Mother Hen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Two Kudos and a Bookmark! I'm so happy! Thanks guys!
> 
> Also, I made a Deviantart page for the story. It'll mostly be quizzes and "about me" journals that will be re-done as Rune ages. I will also include other character journals, mostly for OC's. If I can manage to conjure up a good drawing or two of the characters or different scenes of the story, they will be posted there as well. http://runegreywolf.deviantart.com/  
> I recently made a quick drawing of Rune in her Shadow Form. I'll be posting it tomorrow.
> 
> One more thing, one or two of the paragraphs have a weird layout. Probably because I had to save what I had already typed on here as a document to hard-reboot my computer and paste it back here after, and then I added something in after the fact. I tried to fix it, but had to give up. It's 3:15 A.M. so cut me some slack. It won't happen again.

The teens woke and broke camp at dawn. It took from that time until dusk to actually reach the town near the peak of Mt.Criostail. It was a quaint  little town with cobblestone streets lined with cute little brick cottages and the occasional large building. The entire place was surrounded by thick forest, and everything was frosted with a layer of glittering snow basked in the orange glow of the setting sun. The streets were decorated by tasteful sculptures and streetlamps made of some sort of crystal. In the center of town, there was a large fountain made of the same crystal and somehow still had water gushing from it despite the bitter cold. In short, it looked like something strait out of a children's St. Nicholas Day book. Though she tried to hide it, Rune was enchanted by this place. Her eyes sparkled with child-like wonderment as she tried to take in every delightful detail. This made Laxus smirk a bit; the girl may be an annoying little brat, but she could be rather adorable whether she likes it or not.

It didn't take long for the people of the town to notice the two strange teens. This was quite an isolated place, so visitors were rare this time of year, and they were certainly not from here. The people came out to excitedly greet them; they became even more excited when Laxus explained why they were there. Apparently, the town's economy relied heavily on the crystals they extracted from the mine at the very top of the mountain, both Lacrima and otherwise, but they have been unable to even go near the mine as of late because pf the monster that had recently taken up residence there. They had sent person after person, group after group, up to the mine to slay the beast, but none have returned. It has gotten to the point that they had increased the reward from 2,500,000 Jewels to 3,000,000 Jewels, pretty much depleting most of the town's reserve funds, in order to make the job more enticing to strong mages. Both Rune an Laxus were pleasantly surprised by this, and were even more pleased to know that their room and board while on the job would be free of charge (within reason, of course), and they would be put up in the suites normally used for important crystal dealers when they come to negotiate price and what not.

After being given what little information about the monster the town's people had, the two were shown to there rooms. When it came time for dinner, they ordered room service and Laxus demanded that Rune eat in his room with him so he could make sure that she ate enough. Once she finished, Rune went back to her room to do who knows what, and Laxus flopped on his plush bed and listened to his music as he normally did when he wanted to relax. It wasn't working tonight as well as it normally did though. He was distracted; distracted by thoughts of his partner. Why was she so pissed all the time? What's her story? Who is she? She was the only person in the guild that he didn't know a single substantive thing about, and he didn't like it. 

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to relax like this, he decided to go out for some fresh air. The freezing air nipped his face the second he stepped out, but it was invigorating. The snow shimmered like a diamond covered sheet in the moonlight. He stood there, enjoying the cool night air, but his mind was still not clear. He kept thinking about the things he didn't know. It was at this point that he realized that he didn't even know what magic she used. She hadn't seen the spell she had used on him, but he didn't like the feeling he got from it. It was unsettling to say the least.

His thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like a sniffle from somewhere close. It wasn't until he looked up to the roof that he saw what the source of the sound was. Rune was sitting on the roof with her head resting on her knees. Was she crying? From where he stood, he could tell she was trembling; though, he couldn't tell if it was because she was crying, or if it was because she was stupid enough to plop her ass down on the snow covered roof without any sort of winter clothing on. He was about to yell at her for this fact because he didn't want to get blamed for her getting sick, but his voice caught in his throat when he saw the moonlight shimmer off her tear streaked cheeks. She had been crying after all. But, for what reason? As far as he knew, he hadn't done anything to upset her recently.

Suddenly, Rune's head snapped up. Laxus froze, worried that he had been noticed; she would probably lose it if she knew he saw her crying. But, it seemed as though she hadn't even noticed him; her focus was elsewhere. After a few seconds, she slid off the roof and landed smoothly on the ground two stories down. Laxus stood there in bewilderment for a few seconds before jumping down and running after her.

* * *

 

Rune ran through the forest, dodging trees as she went. The bitter cold air burned her face, but it went unnoticed. The snow was thick and halfway up her calf, which made running require more effort with far less results than what Rune was used to, but she pressed on anyway. All of her senses were focused on a singular goal. Millions of years of predatory evolution were working at their finest, and she was using every last bit of them.

She came to the edge of a clearing and waited. Before long a young boy with short brown hair burst from the trees on the other side. He tripped over something concealed by the snow and fell. The boy turned around just in time to see his pursuer dive toward him from the sky. The boy screamed and braced for the deadly impact, but it never came. The boy slowly opened his eyes to see Rune standing opposite the creature, which had been knocked off it's path. The creature stood and glared at the girl.  

* * *

_Meanwhile_

"Damn it!" Laxus cursed as he ran through the the forest. "How'd she get so far so fast!? Why'd she run out here in the forest!? And why is there so much God damn snow!?"

He was having trouble with the deep snow too, and he was having a hard time dodging trees in the darkness of the evergreen forest.

"Stupid brat!" He growled.

Eventually, Laxus made it to the clearing and saw his partner locked in a stand off with some weird creature. It had a gray horse-like body, but the head of a bird. It had large wings, black and white bull horns, and a serpentine tail. The creature was looking angrily at the girl, and she at it. There was also a small boy sitting in the snow watching them. He thought he should go get the boy, but thought it best to not give away his position. If things got bad, he would want to be able to take this thing by surprise. Plus, he wanted too see how the girl fought. Maybe he  _did_ judge her too fast when she first came here. May as well give her a chance, right?

The two stood there, staring each other down. Neither one of them wanted to take their eyes off of each other, and were clearly trying to intimidate each other. Rune was bearing her abnormally sharp canine teeth as an animalistic growl ripped from her throat. The creature spread out its wings and screeched. After what seemed like an eternity, the creature finally made a move, taking to the skies and diving at the girl. Rune sank into the ground before the creature could reach her, and it turned around in circles trying to find her.

Suddenly, a wispy mass of darkness with an eerie purple glow rose from the snow and took on a humanoid shape. The mass opened its almond shaped eyes to reveal hollows that glowed from within with some supernatural red light. The creature whipped its tail at the mass, but it went through it like it would through a cloud of smoke. The separated halves of the mass began to fuse back together and its face broke into a sharp-toothed grin that had the same red glow.

"Sorry." A voice that sounded somewhat like Rune's rang out, but is seemed distant and distorted. "You can't hurt me like that. Unfortunately for you, I can!"

The mass raise a hand in front of its face, and its already pointed fingers grew longer and started to glow purple entirely. The mass then launched forward, moving in an unnatural manner, and raked its claws across the creature's back. The beast shrieked in pain and tried to attack the mass again, but the results were no better than the first time. The mass clawed at the creature again, but it humped out of the way. It couldn't dodge what came next though.

A small wave of magic energy tailed out of the claws and flew forward, striking the creature and sending it flying into the trunk of a tree without actually breaking through the creature's tough hide. The creature was on its feet in seconds, but it seems to have lost its bravado. It was cowering back and trembling in fear. It looked like it wanted to run, but was unwilling to turn its back on the mass.

"Well, go on then." The mass said and made a shooing motion with its hands. "Shoo! Run along!"

Something in the tone of that eerie voice put the creature at ease enough that it took its chance to fly off. As soon as the creature was gone, the mass began to dissipate, leaving Rune in its place. She turned toward the boy and glared.

"Hey!" She shouted and walked to him. "You'll catch your death sitting in the snow like that."

The boy took Rune's extended hand with a shaky "Thank you" as Rune pulled him to his feet.

"Now then," Rune began and crouched down to be at eye-level with the boy, "would you mind telling me WHAT IN THE HELL YOU'RE DOING OUT IN THE FOREST AT NIGHT!? AND WITH A MONSTER ON THE LOOSE NO LESS! YOU MUST BE AWARE OF THE DANGER!"

"U-umm...." The boy sputtered and began shaking from fear now rather than the cold.

 "Well! Out with it, boy!" Rune demanded.

"I-it's my dad!" The boy cried.

"What about him?" Rune questioned.

"H-he went missing t-two days ago!" The boy said with tears in his eyes. "I-I have to find him!"

"And, getting yourself killed would help HOW!?" Rune spat and yanked the boy up by the front of his coat. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW CLOSE YOU CAME TO DYING TONIGHT!? DO YOU!?!"

The boy was an absolute wreck now. "I-I ha-ave to fin-ind him! H-he mi-ight still be ali-ive! I-I have-ave to get to hi-im before the monster do-does!"

Rune's eyes softened and she pulled the boy into a hug. "I know how you feel, little guy... I really do... Being so helpless is the most awful feeling, but this was just stupid... It won't help anybody at all if you get yourself killed... I promise... I'll find your dad..."

"B-but, what-at if he's already dea-ead by then!?" The boy sobbed.

"I promise you, I  **will** bring him back alive. But, you have to promise me you won't do something like this ever again." Rune said softly.

"O-okay..." The boy seemed to be calming down.

"Wow, Rune! I never knew you were such a softie!" Laxus taunted as he emerged from the trees.

"Go to hell!" Rune shouted over her shoulder. "You know, you could have taken the kid somewhere safe or something instead of standing there like an idiot!"

"Wh-what!?" Laxus was shocked. "How long have you known I was here!?"

"I knew you were following me." Rune said as she stood to face her patner.

"How!?" Laxus asked.

"I would have had to be deaf to not hear your less than graceful ass crashing through the forest, you have quite the strong scent, and you can't conceal your magic worth shit." Rune answered. "You really should work on that last one."

"Yeah, yeah." Laxus said with a roll of his eyes. 

"Well, since you aren't going to make yourself useful," Rune picked the boy up in her arms. "I need to get the little guy home."

"I'll take him." Laxus said. "You get back to the lodge. You want to be fully rested for tomorrow."

"Fine." Rune surprisingly didn't argue at all.

She set the boy down and started off for the lodge.

"Wait!" Laxus grabbed her by the arm. 

"What?" Rune was more than a little annoyed.

"Take this." He said and shrugged his coat off. "I can't have you getting sick on me."

"Thanks, but I'll survive." Rune said and continued to walk toward the lodge.

"Just take the damn thing!" Laxus snapped. "I'm not getting in trouble because of you!"

Rune sighed and took it. "Fine, mother hen."

She slipped the coat on, thankful for the warmth. It was huge on her, but it would do. Laxus then realized just how tiny and fragile-looking the girl was. His damn coat went past her knees and she had to roll the sleeves up several times for them to fit properly. And yet, she did really well fighting that creature. He had to admit, he was impressed.

"Be careful, okay?" Laxus said as he picked the boy up and let him climb up on his shoulders.

"You too." Rune said and walked off.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to rename Christmas in this story to St. Nicholas Day because I don't think they have Christianity in the Fairy Tail Universe, but they do have something similar at least. They have their cathedrals and whatnot, but there hasn't been a specific God that is worshiped mentioned as far as I can remember. When I get to the Christmas themed chapter, I plan on looking up different customs from different winter holidays. Most will be Christmas customs since that's the holiday I celebrate, so I know that one best. I will be changing other holidays as well.  
> 


	5. Showdown with the Snow-Beast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got half-way through typing this and accidentally erased everything! TT_TT  
> I seriously almost cried. Always save your work, children, or you'll end up staring at your computer with eyes wide and jaw dropped in horror before slamming your head into the table for being so stupid.

Laxus had been up for over two hours now. He had showered, eaten his breakfast at the little tavern on the ground floor of the lodge, and listened to an entire album on his Soundpod; and yet, his partner had yet to be seen. He would glance up at the stairs over and over, getting more and more impatient each time. He wanted to get this job over with so he could get out of this frozen hellhole.

"That's it!" He erupted so suddenly that the few members of staff who were around jumped, causing one to shriek and drop a tray full of glasses,

Laxus paid not attention to them as he stood and stomped up to the girl's room.

"Hey, you stupid brat!" Laxus shouted and slammed his fist on the door. "Get up!"

When he got no response, he growled and stomped back downstairs to demand a key to the room. At first, the clerk was very hesitant to give him the key since all he knew was there was an angry young man demanding the key to a lone young lady's room, but he relented after a barrage of choice words and death threats with a bit of an explanation sprinkled in here or there. Laxus snatched up the key and stormed back up the stairs

"I SAID, GET UP!" He shouted as he slammed the door open so hard the knob left a dent in the wall.

Still he got no response.

  _"What the hell?"_ He thought and walked further into the room.

As the bed came into view, he saw his partner sound asleep as if nothing was going on. How the hell had she not heard him!?

"GET UP!" He bellowed.

Still, the girl didn't even stir, which really freaked him out.

"H-hey! Wake up!" He said and ran over to the bed.  _"Oh shit! Oh shit! Gramps is going to kill me!"_

He placed his hand on her stomach and his ear over her chest to see if she was still breathing. He could  hear her heart beating and her lungs inflating and deflating as he felt her body rise and fall with them. So, she  **was** still alive. Then, what was wrong with her? What should he do?

Not knowing what else to do, the teen stepped back and sent a small bolt of electricity at the unconscious girl. Her body tensed up, but again, there was no scream or anything. She did groan, but it was more out of the annoyance at the rude awakening than anything. 

She cracked one eye open to see what was going on and groaned again when she saw who it was that woke her up. "Can I help you?"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?!" He yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Rune groaned and buried her face in the blankets to shield her eyes from the annoying sunlight.

"I've been trying to wake you up for ten god damn minutes, and you didn't even move!" Laxus continued freaking out.

"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about." She said and started stretching her arms, giving up on being able to get any more sleep with this loud-mouth around. "Get out; I'll be ready in a minute."

"Fine, just don't take forever!" Laxus spat and slammed the door as he walked out.

Rune came shortly after and found Laxus leaning against the opposite wall, looking irritated. "Let's go."

"Finally!" Laxus grumbled.

"Are you serious!?" Rune yelled. "I took  **maybe** five minutes! Literally all I did was brush my teeth and hair!"

"Whatever, let's just get the job over with." Laxus said and headed for the door. "I want to get out of this frozen hellhole and away from you!"

"You know what would make that happen!?" Rune growled. "TAKING A FUCKING TRAIN!"

"Are you still bitching about that!?" Laxus said in disbelief. "Get over it already, ya baby!"

"I am not a baby! You are!" She shrieked and ran out the door.

Laxus ran after her, but she had already put a lot of distance between them thanks to the streets being freshly shoveled and free of snow. By the time he reached the path to the mine, he had lost sight of her entirely. Then, he heard a strange roar coming from the direction of the mine. He couldn't believe she had gotten there already, but clearly something was going on and he needed to get there right now!

"Lightning Body!" He shouted as his body turned into a large bolt of lighting and shot off toward the direction of the mine.

Laxus arrived just in time to see a massive beast covered in thick white fur raise it's huge paw to crush the small girl that dared stand before it. The sound of Laxus' thunder made the girl jump and whip her head around to see what caused the noise.

"Move you idiot!" He yelled as the beast forcefully brought it's paw down.

Rune jumped out of the way, managing to avoid being crushed, but was unable to avoid being slashed by one of the beast's razor-sharp claws. The claw sliced past the bandages that still covered her arms and deep into her flesh, but she didn't cry out; she merely used her Dark Demon Claws to slash the beast behind the knee attached to the paw that tried to crush her.

"Way to go, stupid!" Laxus scolded.

"I was fine until you showed up!" Rune spat. "If it weren't for your loud-ass thunder distracting me, none of this would have happened!"

Laxus rolled his eyes. "Let's just kill this thing."

Rune nodded, and both mages turned to their target.

Aside from the massive size and thick fur, the beast also had large curved horns atop its head that barely missed knocking the icicles off the roof, monstrous jaws filled with sharp teeth, a long serpentine neck, a face that looked like some sort of cross between a dog and a bear, and a whip-like tail that ended in some sort of blade-like growth made of the same material as its horns. In short, it was terrifying.

The beast charged at them with snapping jaws snaking this way and that in an attempt to snatch on of the mages up in its gaping maw. It didn't seem slowed much by the wound Rune had inflicted; apparently, it was not deep enough to be much of a hindrance. The teens managed to dodge the attacks and prepared their own counter attack. Rune took the first opening she saw and started to slash the beast over and over with her still present claws. She managed to get in a few good slashes before having to jump away again to avoid the beast's tail.

"Lightning Eruption!" Laxus roared as lighting shot up from the ground beneath the beast once Rune was a safe distance away.

The beast took a lot of damage from the lightning mage's attack, but recovered quickly. It threw its head back as icy-blue magic swirled in its mouth. It brought it's head forward once again and exhaled a cloud of frost toward the teens.

"Don't let that touch you!" Rune warned and pulled her partner away from the mist.

As soon as the mist cleared, the beast charged at them again with its head down, horns set to gore the two mages. Laxus wrapped his fist in electricity and punched the beast so hard in the head that it was sent flying. The beast was dazed, and roared in anger. The sheer force of the roar caused the whole place to shake, which caused the icicles on the ceiling to shake and break off. The deadly spikes of ice plummeted to the ground, and there was no safe space that could be reached in time. Rune sank into the ground until nothing was left of her except her shadow. Laxus used his Lightning Body spell to avoid the ice as well.

The beast had no such spell, so several icicles fell onto it and pierced its flesh. Its tail thrashed about as it screeched in pain, and the blade on the end of it managed to slash Laxus' leg when he emerged from his spell to attack the beast. Laxus couldn't hold back a hiss of pain from the slash, which drew the beast's attention to him. 

The beast raised its paw to attack him.

"Dark Demon's Extending Paw!" Rune shouted as the magic energy around her hands extended toward the beast, grabbing its arm like a vice.

The beast screamed as the magic energy wrapped further and further up the beast's arm, seeming to burn or decay the flesh and fur that it passed over as it went.

The beast roared and sent a cloud of mist at the girl once again, and she had to let go in order to get away. She only barely managed to avoid the attack. Just how close of a call it was became apparent when she noticed the ends of her hair were frozen. The ice was so cold that it actually burned her skin when she touched it, and the ice spread over her fingertips. Both mages then became aware of how dangerous this creature really was and nodded to each other, knowing that they would need this next attack to deal massive damage.

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" Laxus shouted and sent out a stream of lightning from his mouth toward the beast.

"Dark Demon's Breath!" Rune called out as she sent a stream of swirling black and purple magic from her own mouth toward the beast.

Both attacks struck at the same time, dealing the finishing blow. When the dust cleared, the beast's lifeless body lay in a contorted heap.

"Well, the hard part's over." Laxus said with a sigh of relief.

Rune nodded and headed further into the mine.

"Hey!" Laxus called after her. "Where do you think you're going!?"

"I can feel negative energy coming from further in the mine..." She said in an almost trance-like state. "I think the people are there..."

"What makes you say that?" Laxus asked and limped after his partner.

"The amount of negative energy I'm feeling is the result of severe trauma. I feel fear and death." Rune continued and walked on. "Go back to town." 

"W-What?!"  Laxus stammered in surprise. "You expect me to leave you alone in a place like this? You just said you felt  **death**."

Rune sighed in annoyance. "We killed the source. Besides, you're injured and will only slow me down. Go get patched up."

"News flash, twerp; you're injured too." Laxus reminded.

Rune looked herself over and seemed surprised when she saw the wound on her arm. "Oh! I suppose I am."

"You suppose?!" Laxus was in disbelief. "Don't you feel that!? I mean, it's pretty damn deep!"

Rune shrugged. "Nope."

"HOW!" Laxus demanded.

"I've been blocking pain out for so long now, I don't know how to stop." Rune explained.

"Why?" He asked.

"Let's just say I didn't exactly come from a good place..." Rune said, continuing to walk deeper into the mine. "Pain was almost constant... I blocked it out because I had to if I wanted to survive..."

"Oh... I... Wow..." Laxus struggled for something to say, but came up with nothing.

"You, on the other hand, obviously  **can** feel pain." She said and turned to her partner. "I'll be fine, but I'm on a time limit and you're slowing me down."

"Time limit?" The lightning mage questioned.

"It'd take too long to explain. Just GO!" She snapped.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not without you." Laxus said firmly.

"Fine! Just hurry up!" Rune growled and continued.

The mages made their way further into the mine. As they got closer to their destination, more and more blood could be seen on the floors and walls. Soon, bits of bones and flesh were littered on the ground. Soon, the bits became entrails and full bones. It was a sickening sight. Laxus felt the color drain from his face; he never was very good with gore, and this was the worst he'd seen. Rune was equally disgusted, but tried to hide it because she didn't want to seem weak.

Finally, they made it to one of the inner dead-end chambers of the mine. Inside this chamber, there were dozens of blocks of ice lining the walls. At first, they looked like normal chunks of ice, but they soon realized that there were people trapped within the blocks. They were mostly men from the village, but some of the people didn't look like they belonged. Rune guessed that they were lesser mages that had come foolishly thinking this would be an easy job, just as she had. Just looking at the scene, the gore and the dozens of frozen people with their faces contorted in horror, it was clear this would have been an S-class job soon enough.

 _"I guess it **is** a good thing blondie came..." _ Rune admitted to herself.  _"I don't think I could have handled this myself... I can't let the cocky bastard know that though..."_

"Are they...?" Laxus trailed off.

"No." Rune said. "This negative energy from fear is not residual. I can still feel it pulsating from them. They are likely in a state of suspended animation."

"What about all the... Ya know... Guts?" Laxus asked and shuddered as he looked at the entrails that were scattered around the chamber "Probably animal. Humans are not the usual prey of creatures like this, so it probably doesn't really have a taste for them." Rune explained. "If it had eaten any humans, they were probably mages. Since this was a creature that uses magic, it would eat the mages first to replenish its magic faster."

"If it doesn't like the taste of people, then why freeze them like this?" Laxus wondered.

"This place is locked in winter most of the time from what I can tell." Rune said. "Food can be hard to find, so you take what you can get and stash it away. It's a common animal behavior."

"I see." Laxus said with a nod. "So, what do we do now?"

"We need a fire mage to thaw them out." Rune said. 

"We've got Macao. We could send for him." Laxus suggested.

Rune shook her head. "Send for Natsu."

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Why him? Macao has more experience as a mage, so he'd be able to do this a lot faster than Flame-Brain."

"Natsu lives alone, right?" Rune asked.

"Yeah, but gramps found him a place that he wouldn't have to pay rent on." Laxus told her.

"Well, he can't really go on big jobs yet since he's so young. I'm sure the town will pay him to thaw out their people, and this would be easy money for him." Rune said.

"I guess so... But, it'll probably take him a few days to thaw them all out." Laxus pointed out. "He's just a little guy after all."

"It'll be fine." Rune dismissed her partner's concern.

Laxus shrugged. "Fine. I'll talk to gramps later tonight."

Rune nodded and the two mages made their way out of the mine. As they started walking toward the road back to town, Laxus started to notice Rune struggling to keep up, which was weird since he was the one with the injured leg. He brushed it off as her just being tired at first, but then he heard a thud from behind him. He turned around and saw that Rune had collapsed in the snow. He rushed over to her and tried to wake her up, but she didn't respond to him. Figuring that it was because of how much blood she had lost, he scooped her up and used his Lightning Body spell to get her to the town's clinic.

One he got to the clinic, Laxus burst through the door and took his partner to the front desk. The receptionist behind the desk quickly called for two stretchers, and both teens were taken to the back. Rune's condition was examined as Laxus got his lag stitched up. Once her condition was assessed, one of the nurses started to cut away the bandages on Rune's wounded arm. When they saw what was beneath the bandages, everybody's eyes widened. Her arms were covered in scars of varying ages and levels of severity, and some looked really bad. When asked how she had gotten the scars, Laxus said he didn't know since she had just joined the guild.

The doctor sighed and began stitching up the new wound and re-bandaged her arm before turning to her partner again. "She's suffering from Magic Deficiency. The blood loss didn't help, but I'd say that's why she passed out."

Laxus was shocked. "H-how? It didn't seem like she used that much magic. She should still have plenty left!"

"I don't know, but she's going to be out for a while. There are almost never any mages in this town, so we're not equipped to handle this sort of thing..." The doctor told him.

"That's fine... We need to call in extra help to finish the job anyway..." Laxus said.

"Good. Now, you head back to the lodge and rest." The doctor ordered. "We'll keep the girl under close observation and send someone to get you if anything happens."

"Nothing had better happen if I'm leaving her with you." Laxus warned. "She's part of our guild, and we take this kind of thing very seriously."

"Of course." The doctor said, somewhat shaken. "We'll do everything we can to make sure her condition only improves."

"Good." Laxus said and left for his room so he could contact his grandfather. 

 


End file.
